"The Skinny"
By Eric Hornick
Game 43
Boston 4, Isles 1
Brad Marchand scored a pair of goals and Tuukka Rask made 22 saves for his 300th NHL win as the Boston Bruins defeated the Isles 4-1 in the front-end of a back-to-back set of games at TD Garden in Boston before a socially-distanced crowd of 2,191.
Travis Zajac scored the only goal; it was the third straight game that one of the former Devils scored their first regular season goal for the Isles.
The Capitals lost to Buffalo while the Penguins lost in a shootout to Philadelphia, so the Isles remain in 2nd place in the East Division, two points behind Washington and now one point ahead of Pittsburgh. The Isles and Penguins each have 13 games to play while Washington has only 12.
The Scoring:
1st Period
Brad Marchand (20) Patrice Bergeron (20), Mike Reilly (20) 01:49 NYI 0,BOS 1
Craig Smith (10) David Krejci (22), Charlie McAvoy (19) 17:55 NYI 0,BOS 2 PPG
2nd Period
Travis Zajac (8) Mathew Barzal (25), Jordan Eberle (14) 02:56 NYI 1,BOS 2
3rd Period
Taylor Hall (3) David Pastrnak (17) 01:52 NYI 1,BOS 3
Brad Marchand (21)EN David Pastrnak (18) 18:24 NYI 1,BOS 4
The Skinny
The Isles are 8-6-0 since the end of their 9-game win streak (and 12-game point streak) … The Isles are 4-7-2 against Pittsburgh and Washington (4-0-2 at home and 0-7-0 on the road); they are 23-5-2 vs. their other opponents…Travis Zajac is the 382nd Islander to score a regular season goal… Barry Trotz coached his 193rd Islander game, breaking a tie with Mike Milbury for 3rd on the club's all-time list…The Isles allowed a season-high 45 shots, including 23 in the first period. It is the most shots the Isles have allowed in a game since December 20, 2018 in Vegas and the most that they have allowed in a period since February 13, 2018 vs. Columbus…Kyle Palmieri played 13:19 in his 599th NHL game…The Isles are towards the top of the NHL in high-danger scoring chances (as compiled by Natural Stat Trick) but were not credited with any tonight…The Isles have killed 14 of the last 15 opponent power plays… Taylor Hall's third period goal was his first since joining the Bruins and only his third in 39 games this season… This was the fourth time this season that the Isles have allowed a goal in the opening two minutes (all vs. Semyon Varlamov). The Islanders had rebounded to win the first three games, including February 25th vs. Boston.
The Injury
Josh Bailey left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury; he did not return.
Magic Number Time
The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot remains 17 (over the Rangers).
Varly Streaking
Semyon Varlamov is 9-5-1 in his last fifteen decisions, allowing just 36 goals in that span. Varly has won 16 games this season with a goals against average of 2.24 and save percentage of .922. Varlamov has 248 NHL wins and 31 shutouts, including four this season.
Sorokin's Shining
Ilya Sorokin is 11-1-0 in his last twelve starts (1.79, .928). Among goalies who have played at least 10 games in that span, only Juuse Soros (1.38) has a lower goals against average in that span.
Sorokin is 8-0-0 at home. He is the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season (Harry Lumley for Detroit in 1944-45 and Jaroslav Halak for Montreal in 2006-07 had each started 7-0-0). Two others have won at least eight straight over multiple seasons. Gord Mc Rae for Toronto in 1972-73 and 1974-75 (10); Michel Plasse for St. Louis and Montreal in 1970-71 and 1972-73 (8).
Only one other NHL rookie goalie in the last 39 years has won eight straight at home in a single season- Semyon Varlamov did that in 2009-10 for Washington.
Most Wins by an Islander Rookie Goalie (one season):
1. Chico Resch 23 (1975-76)
2. Roland Melanson 22 (1981-82)
3. Kelly Hrudey 19 (1984-85)
4. Chico Resch 12 (1974-75)
5. Ilya Sorokin 11 (2020-21)
(Resch appeared in 25 games in 1974-75 and thus was considered a rookie the following year; Sorokin will be a rookie next season as well if he does not appear in 26 games)
Home Sweet Home
The Isles have earned points in 20 of their first 22 home games (18-2-2); it is their best home record through 22 games in the Post-Cup Era:
Most Points at Home Through 22 Games
• 40 1978-79 (18-0-4)
• 38 2020-21 (18-2-2)
• 36 1977-78 (16-2-4)
• 36 1980-81 (17-3-2)
Towards the Top of the Chart
The Isles now have 58 points in 43 games; it is their second-highest point total through 43 games in the Post-Cup era:
• 59 2019-20
• 58 2020-21
• 58 2013-14
Solid D
The Isles have allowed only 102 goals (including 1 shootout winner) in 43 games; it is the fewest goals that they have allowed through 43 games in their history:
• 102 (2020-21)
• 104 (1975-76)
• 107 (1976-77)
• 108 (1977-78)
Results vs. Each East Division Opponent
• Boston W-W-W-Wso-Wot-L Remaining games: 2 (0 home, 2 away)
• Buffalo W-W-W-W-W-W Remaining games: 2 (0 home, 2 away)
• New Jersey W-L-W-W-W-Wso Remaining games: 2 (2 home, 0 away)
• Rangers W-L-W-L-Wot Remaining games: 3 (2 home, 1 away)
• Philadelphia Lot-Lot-L-W-Wot-Wso-Wso Remaining games:1 (0 home, 1 away)
• Pittsburgh W-Lso-L-L-Lot-W-L-L Remaining games: 0
• Washington L-L-L-W-W Remaining games: 3 (2 home, 1 away)
Home and Road
The Isles are 27-12-4 overall; they are 18-2-2 at home and 9-10-2 on the road.
Boston is 23-12-6 overall; they are 12-6-3 at home and 11-6-3 on the road.
Coach Trotz
Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 872-630-60-155 in 1,717 games.
Most Coaching Wins
1. Scotty Bowman 1,244
2. Joel Quenneville 952
3. Barry Trotz 872
Most Games Coached
1. Scotty Bowman 2,141
2. Joel Quenneville 1,748
3. Barry Trotz 1,717
Sweet Lou
Lou Lamoriello has the second-highest win total for any general manager in NHL history:
1. David Poile 1,439
2. Lou Lamoriello 1,321
3. Glen Sather 1,319
It All Starts at the Top
Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have 2,193 wins between them. They start each game with more than any other pair in NHL history (David Poile and Peter Laviolette had 2,036 after their last game together). Bill Torrey and Al Arbour had a then-record 1,462 at the end of the 1991-92 season, which was their last season together.
First Things First
The Isles are 18-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-11-2 when allowing the opening goal.
The Isles have won 85.7% of the games that they have scored first, which is the highest percentage in the NHL (just ahead of Edmonton's .850). St. Louis is the only other team with one regulation loss but their record when scoring first is 8-1-5.
The Shots
Isles 7-11-5=23
Boston 23-12-10=45
The Isles are 17-5-2 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-1-0 when the shots are even and 9-6-2 when they are outshot. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 62-31-12 when outshot.
In the Nets
Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves but falls to 16-9-3 on the season and 11-6-3 in his career against Boston.
Tuukka Rask made 22 saves to improve to 9-4-2 on the season and 18-7-1 in his career against the Isles.
Special Teams
The Isles were 0-3 on the power play (4:23); Boston was 1-5 on the power play (8:10).
The Isles are 11-4-3 when they score at least one power play goal and 16-8-1 when they do not. The Isles are 6-9-2 when they allow at least one power play goal and 21-3-2 when they do not.
Three is a Magic Number
The Isles are 20-3-3 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 7-9-1 when they do not. Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 86-8-10 when scoring three or more.
One-Goal Games
The Isles are 13-4-4 in games decided by a single goal including 6-4 in regulation. They are 3-3 in games decided in overtime and are 4-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.
Back-to-Backs
Including tonight, the Isles are 4-1-2 in the front-half and 4-1-1 in the back-half. This back-to-back concludes in Boston on Friday. The final back-to-back of the season will be on May 3rd/4th, both of which will be played in Buffalo.
Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 21-3-3 (.833) in back-ends. This is by far the best record of any NHL team in back-ends during this stretch. Tampa Bay has the next best record: 19-7-3 (.707).
Series
The schedule as currently comprised has the Isles playing the same opponent in consecutive games seventeen times this season (including three-game stretches vs. the Sabres, Devils, Flyers, and Capitals).
In two-game series, the Isles are 3-5-2 in the first game and 3-5-1 in the second game:
NYR (W/L); NJ (W/L); WAS (L/L); PHI (Lot/Lot), BUF(W/W), PIT (L/L), PIT (Lot/W), PIT (L/L), NYR (L/Wot), BOS (L/-)
In three-game series, the Isles are 2-1-0 in the first game, 3-0-0 in the second game, and 3-0-0 in the third:
BUF (W/W/W), NJ (W/W/W), PHI (L/W/Wot)
Tired vs. Rested
• The Isles are 4-1-1 when both teams played the night before.
• The Isles are 1-2-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not.
• The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.
• The Isles are 22-9-3 when both teams are rested.
Ice-time Leaders
Isles: Nick Leddy (22:53); Boston: Charlie McAvoy (23:42)
Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 21:42 of ice-time.
Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (9-4-0), Ryan Pulock (14-6-3), Scott Mayfield (1-1-0), Mathew Barzal (1-1-1), Adam Pelech (2-0-0).
Face-offs
Isles 30, Boston 30 (50%)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 13 of 21 for the Isles; Patrice Bergeron won 8 of 13 for Boston.
The Isles are 17-6-2 when they win more face-offs than the opposition, 0-4-1 when they are tied, and 10-3-1 when they win fewer.
Hit Count
Isles 34 (Adam Pelech -6)
Boston 23 (Charlie McAvoy-5)
Fights
There were no fights. Season total: 4 (Cizikas -1, Wahlstrom -1, Martin -1, Johnston-1)
Blocked Shots
Isles 19 (Three with 3)
Boston 7 (Sean Kuraly -3)
For the Analytics Crowd
Corsi: All situations: Isles 40, Boston 71
Corsi: 5-on-5: Isles 35, Boston 50
5-on-5 leaders:
Isles: Jordan Eberle +13
Boston: Connor Clifton +21
High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)
All situations: Isles 0, Boston 13
5-on-5: Isles 0, Boston 9
The Isles are 2nd in the NHL with 425 high-danger chances 5-on-5 and are 2nd in all-situation high-danger chances with 525.
Scratches
Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho, Cory Schneider, (Anders Lee-LTIR), Michael DalColle, Ross Johnston, Brandon Coburn
Games Lost: 44
COVID Games Lost -6
275-Game Club
The Isles have two players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 275 games, and they are two of just 14 players in the NHL whose streak began no later than the start of the 2017-18 season.
Ironman Streaks: Brock Nelson 288, Mathew Barzal 275, Ryan Pulock 238, Josh Bailey 196. All four players have appeared in every game since Barry Trotz became the Isles' coach.
Iron Man
Brock Nelson has the longest active streak (and now has the 4th-longest in club history); Mathew Barzal is 6th on this list while Ryan Pulock is 10th:
1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)
2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301
3. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – 3/13/2021 295
4. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 288
5. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284
6. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 275
7. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262
8. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246
9. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)
10. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 238
(*) Start of NHL career.
(**) Entire career with Islanders
Pulock's streak is the 2nd-longest by an Islander defenseman, trailing only Denis Potvin's 262-game streak.
Challenges
Isles: 1 successful, 0 failures
The Isles are 1-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.(offsides 2/16 @BUF)
Opponents: 1 successful, 1 failure (goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR, no goalie interference 3/11 vs NJ)
The Isles are 1-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 1-0-0 in games that go the opponents' way.
Last Minute Heroes:
The Isles have scored one goal and allowed four goals in the final three minutes of the third period that were either the winning goal or forced overtime:
For: 1 [Anders Lee, 2/6/21 vs PIT (17:14) -winning goal]
Vs: 4 [Justin Schultz, 1/26/21 @ WSH (19:33)-winning goal; Evgeni Malkin, 2/11/21 vs PIT (19:42) – tying goal/PIT won in OT; Oskar Lindblom, 3/18/21 vs PHI (17:38)-winning goal; Anders Bjork, 3/25/21 vs BOS (17:54) – tying goal/Isles won in OT]
All-time Islander Leader Boards:
Games Played (skaters)
1. Bryan Trottier 1,123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1,060 *** 3. Josh Bailey 908…
14. Frans Nielsen 606 *** 15. Matt Martin 603 *** 16. Kenny Jonsson 597 *** 17. Garry Howatt 596 *** 18. John Tonelli 594 ***19. Brock Nelson 591 *** 20. Casey Cizikas 577 …
27. Kyle Okposo 529 *** 28. Anders Lee 520 *** 29. Cal Clutterbuck 519 *** 30. Dave Lewis 514 *** 31. Richard Pilon and Mick Vukota 509 *** 33. Nick Leddy 505
Goals
1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …
11. John Tonelli 206 *** 12. Billy Harris and Anders Lee 184 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Brock Nelson 165 *** 16. Patrick Flatley and Josh Bailey 160
Assists
1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553 ***
4. Clark Gillies 359 *** 5. John Tavares 349 *** 6. Josh Bailey 341 …
19. Pierre Turgeon 193 *** 20. Nick Leddy 192
Points
1. Bryan Trottier 1,353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1,126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1,052…
9. Bob Bourne 542 *** 10. Bob Nystrom 513 *** 11. Josh Bailey 501…
20. Ziggy Palffy 331 *** 21. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson 320
Games Coached
1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Barry Trotz 193
Coaching Wins
1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 110
On the Farm
Bridgeport is 3-13-1-0 on the season (2-6-0-0 vs. Hartford and 1-7-1-0 vs. Providence) following losses to Hartford on Tuesday and Thursday.
Bridgeport, 0-6-1-0 in their last seven games, returns to action on Saturday when they visit Hartford.
Season Series Stats
The Isles lead the season series 5 games to 1 (and 10 points to 3).
The Isles are 5-1-0 and Boston is 1-4-1.
The loss ended the Islanders' win streak over Boston at five games; it was only the third time in club history that the Isles had won at least five straight over the B's.
UP NEXT
FRIDAY, APRIL 16th – ISLANDERS AT BOSTON 7:00pm
[MSG+ [pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 1050]
The Isles look for a split of the back-to-back series with Boston as they face the Bruins for the 7th time this season.
Ilya Sorokin has never faced the Bruins but may well get a chance to do so on Friday.
Friday's game was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was rescheduled due to COVID.
The final matchup of the season with Boston will be the Isles' season finale on May 10th, two days after the season was originally supposed to end.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick
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